Weekly news roundup

Connor Lafontant and Maddie Hines

Jan 31, 2025

Graphic illustration created in Canva by Luke Soule

School

On Thursday, Jan. 30, McIntosh High School had their Advanced Placement and Electives Night for rising ninth graders, freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Though mostly targeted to rising freshmen, all McIntosh students had the opportunity to take a glance at what AP courses and electives they might want to take or what might simply spark their interest.

Holy Trinity Church has also updated their parking guidelines and has restricted the use of non-church related parking between the hours of 7:00am to 2:00pm. Failure to abide by these rules will result in parking violations.

2025 Senior Class Yard signs are currently in production if ordered in the fall. However, parents still have time to get one, the deadline is Feb. 21 with the price of $40. They will be distributed in March.

2026 graduates, it is time to order your CUSTOM senior shirts. Visit McIntosh PTSO store to buy.

AP Fee reduction deadline is coming up.

National

President Donald Trump confirmed that from the American Airlines regional jet and U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter midair collision around Washington, D.C. on Wednesday evening, there were no survivors. The air accident over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport-is the deadliest since 2001. There are at least 14 others who remain missing as of this moment Recovery efforts were interrupted overnight on Jan.29. Bodies have been retrieved from the river. While in route from Wichita, Kansas, the American Airlines flight was carrying 64 passengers; the Army helicopter had three soldiers on board. As of now the National Transportation Safety Board has assumed control of the investigation.

The official news release has indicated that flight data and voice recorders, black boxes, have been recovered, while the NTSB hopes to prepare a preliminary report on the crash in fewer than 30 days. According to a source close to the investigation, one air traffic controller was handling both aircraft through the collision-an unusual practice-unbelievably so. Other victims aboard the jet included several members of the (U.S.) figure-skating community returning from a training camp in Wichita. The Skating Club of Boston reported six victims, including Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the 1994 world champions in pairs figure skating.

President Trump said in his statement that the incident was part of the fallout of certain Democratic policies, especially policies regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion, without evidence or awaiting the conclusion of an ongoing investigation.

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About the Contributors

Connor Lafontant, Sports Editor

Connor Lafontant is a Junior at McIntosh, in his third year on the Trail staff, which earned a Distinguished Site Badge for the second consecutive time. He covers sports and international stories. A multi-sport athlete, Connor runs track, wrestles, and played soccer in Peachtree City. He also played trombone for three years and is on the honor roll. Outside school, he’s a student pilot at Horizon Aviation, aiming for a career in airlines. Connor volunteers at homeless shelters, providing over 14,000 pounds of food and essentials, and helped distribute COVID vaccines to over 1,000 people. He enjoys traveling and working out, but values helping others most.

Maddie Hines, Social Media

Hines is a Senior at McIntosh and this is her third year on staff on the Trail. This year she serves as the Social Media Manager as well as her continuation on Team Multimedia. In her freshman year, she was Vice President of her class. Hines is currently a McIntosh Ambassador and has also done debate at the state level. Hines is interested in things like creative writing, film and law. In fact, from 2017-2019, she spent three weeks of each summer staying on campus at Emory University for this summer program called SIG (Summer Institute for the Gifted.) There she took classes like song writing, filming, working a camera, creative writing, things of that nature. At Emory, she was able to see what life would be like as a college student. She hopes to obtain some degree in law as well as journalism in the future. In the 2024-2025 school year, Hines was awarded Superior at the GSPA Spring 2025 Convention for her podcast episode “Putting the U in HBCU” where she talks about historically Black Colleges/Universities During her free time, she likes to play volleyball, bake, watch movies, and spend time with friends and family. Because she is new on staff, she hopes to learn new things and new life skills such as responsibility, punctuality and reliability.

Luke Soule, Multimedia Editor

Multimedia editor Luke Soule is a senior at McIntosh High School and has returned for his second year on the McIntosh Trail. Soule received an all-georgia and superior award during his first year on the staff as a writer and specializes in writing about film, music and environmental issues. He is also an editor for the Mischief Literary Magazine. Soule enjoys writing poetry and stories and has written multiple screenplays. Music and film are big parts of Soule’s life. He taught himself to play guitar and currently takes music theory and piano lessons. His favorite artists are Death Grips, Gregory Alan Isakov and Hugh Masekela. He also began writing screenplays at the age of 13. His favorite movies are The Master, Swiss Army Man and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. He frequently volunteers at the Fayette Humane Society and Clothes Less Traveled.